Hypertension is a major health problem for which there are clearly effective therapeutic interventions. However, controlling hypertension and thereby reducing risks of the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease associated with hypertension depends upon the client's willingness to follow a life long medical regimen. The relative high percentage of hypertensive persons who fail to follow a prescribed treatment plan suggests that a knowledge of the problem of hypertension and its treatment is not sufficient for patient compliance. This lack of compliance should not be surprising since often the immediate rewards for following a treatment program are missing. Patients will be assigned at random to two groups: a) the experimental or contract group and b) the control group. All patients will be provided with programmed instructional booklets on the nature and treatment of hypertension. In addition, members of the experimental group will formulate contracts specifying the behaviors desired from the treatment plan and the rewards contingent on those behaviors. It is hypothesized that this combined instructional and participational approach can increase patient compliance and thereby bring more hypertensives under control.